What Does MPG Mean?

What is MPG in cars? What does MPG mean? You’ll see these figures and numbers as you shop for a new vehicle on our lot near Myrtle Beach. The EPA calculates and estimates the MPG on vehicles sold in the United States, even for electric vehicles.

We’d like to interrupt your car shopping journey so you can know about MPG. We’ll answer, “What does MPG stand for?” and “What is MPG highway?” We want you to get the most out of your driving experience. Read on to learn more.

What Does MPG Stand For?

So, what does MPG stand for, exactly? MPG stands for “miles per gallon.” It’s a way to calculate how much you’re spending on gasoline for Myrtle Beach drives. What does MPG mean for your driving habits? It lets you know how many miles you drive on one gallon of gasoline.

What Is MPG in Cars?

Miles per gallon in cars helps you determine which new vehicle you purchase might use less gasoline. What is mpg in cars when the number is higher? The higher the MPG, the more fuel-efficient the vehicle. When you look over the EPA’s numbers, it releases three different MPG ratings for each vehicle.

What Is MPG City?

When you see “MPG City” on the vehicle’s information, this refers to the number of miles your car can drive on one gallon of gas in dense urban traffic. The stop-and-go driving of the city burns fuel much more quickly than the often uninterrupted driving on highways. For gasoline-only engines, the city mpg is typically lower, or less fuel-efficient, compared to the highway mpg.

What Is MPG Highway?

What is mpg highway, exactly? Just like the city numbers, looking at the highway MPG shows you how many miles your vehicle can drive on a gallon of gas as you cruise along the highway. You’ll drive at a more even, continuous pace with less braking.

Your highway mpg is typically higher because your vehicle doesn’t change gears as often and you don’t hit the brakes or accelerate as much. For many vehicles, the optimum highway MPG is around 55 to 60 mph. So, what is mpg highway? It’s the higher of the two numbers!

What Is Combined MPG?

This rating averages out the city and highway mpg figures. If your city MPG is 20 and your highway MPG is 30, the combined MPG is 25.

How to Calculate Your Vehicle’s MPG

The EPA’s MPG ratings are good estimates, but there are far too many variables when driving for MPG ratings to perfectly describe your vehicle’s fuel efficiency. One week might feature 75 percent highway driving and 25 percent city driving, while the next week might have 60 percent city versus 40 percent highway. Regular maintenance can help you achieve optimum fuel efficiency for longer periods of time.

Get a sense of what your vehicle’s fuel economy numbers are, given your driving habits, the topography you drive on, driving conditions, and other factors. Here’s how to calculate your vehicle’s MPG:

1. Fill up your gas tank.
2. Reset your trip odometer.
3. Next time you need to fill up again, write down your current odometer reading, which features the number of miles you’ve driven since the last time you filled up.
4. Divide that number by the number of gallons it takes to fully refill your tank.

For example, your odometer says 405 miles when you go to your favorite gas station in Surfside Beach. You fill up your tank with 15 gallons of gasoline. 405 divided by 15 is 27, so you got 27 miles per gallon since the last time you filled up your tank.

Test Drive a New Subaru for Sale in Conway

Now that you’ve read everything you need to know about how to calculate gas mileage, are you ready to get behind the wheel of a new or used Subaru? Contact us or call 843-347-4633 to schedule a test drive with our team at Hadwin-White Subaru. We’re happy to help in any way we can as you peruse our showroom.